1967 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible
In its entire history Corvette has had five major body re-styles. The 1967 Corvette was produced for the fifth and final year of the body style created in 1963. The 1967 Corvette bodystyling had little planning. Chevrolet had wanted to introduce a new body shape in 1967 based on the Mako Shark Stingray, but production problems delayed the new shape and the Corvette group had to create something new from the four year old body. The designers removed the trim, including the hood script emblem and fender flags to clean up body surfaces. The functional side fender vents were replaced with the a new style which had five slots and the gas cap color was altered to match the body. Internally the car had new upholstery and redesigned seats. The emergency hand brake was repositioned to be center mounted, a Corvette first.
The 1967 Corvette came with a choice of seven different engine sizes, from the smallest 300 bhp 327 cubic inch (5360 cc) small block to the big block 427 cubic inch (6997 cc) L88 engine. The massive V8 427 cubic inch engine was added to the Corvette range after they started losing races to the AC Cobras. With this new engine the 1967 Corvette could do 0-60 in 4.7 seconds and 0-100 in a mere 12.3 seconds.
When it was originally produced, the 1967 Corvette was not as popular as previous models as the public was waiting for the new model, but still the 1967 Corvette had a total production run of 22,940 units of which 8,504 were coupes and 14,436 were convertibles.
The Sunfire Yellow 1967 427 Corvette in the Mathews Collection is certainly a beautiful example of this unpopular at the time Corvette shape. It is one of 2,325 in this color and it is used only as a show car and has won many awards at shows across the States. In 1997 the car received the NCRS-Duntov Mark of Excellence Award from the National Corvette Restorers Society; it is the greatest accolade and ultimate concours award for a Corvette.